Railway-cable grip



INVENTOR 2 sheets-sheet 1.

ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.)

H. DODS 8v F. EINDES.

l l RAILWAY CABLE GRIP. No. 302,828. Patented July 29, '1884.

N PETERS Ph umm ,mph w sh gl D C.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. DODS 8v F. HINDES.

RAILWAY UABLE GRIP.

No. 302,828. Patented July 29, 1884.

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ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STA'rns Fari-livr @ri-ica HENRY DODS AND FRANK HINDES, OF VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA.

RAILWAY-CABLE emr.

i SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentA No. 302,828, dated July 29, 1884.

Application filed November 13, 1853.

To @ZZ whom, it 11i/ay concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY Dons and FRANK HINDns, of Virginia City, in the county of Storey and State of Nevada, have in- 5 vented a new and Improved Railway-Cable Grip, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

`Our invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures.

Figure lis a longitudinal sectional elevation of our improved pneumatic spring-grip device. Fig.,2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is partly an end elevation and partly a transverse section. Fig. 4. is an open end view ot' one ofthe pneumatic cylinders. Fig. 5 isa closed end elevation of the same. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the operators foot -board and Fig. 7 is partly a side elevation and partly a longitudi-v nal section of the grip device, showing a modified arrangement for working the cylindercocks. l

Ve attach the boiler.- plate a, that carries the grip, (not showin) to the stock b, having iiangesides c, arranged in grooves of the supports (l, attached to the strong timber frame c, suitably attached to the car to enable the gripplate a to shift. ahead when the cable f is clutched, to be gradually arrested by the pneumatic springs, consisting of hollow cylinders g and pistons h, the cylinders being securely bolted to the frame c, and the pistons being connected to the stock b by the rods t'. The cylinders are suiiiciently open around the piston-rods to prevent cushioning the air between the pistons and the ends of the cylinders next to the grip plate; but at the other ends said cylinders have passages controlled by the cocks j, which are connected by rods 7c with the grip-operating lever Z, so that when said lever is shifted to apply the grip, the cocks will also be shifted and closed, so that one piston will be cushioned by compression and the other by expansion of the air. The rods la connect with the lever Z by a stud, m, hav- 5o ing the holes through which the rods pass lined and packed with leather or other friction (No model.)

material compressed on the rods in any suitable way, whereby said rods will be held with sufficient powerto be worked by the lever for closing the cocks, but so that the rods will slide through the stud, or rather the stud will slide along them with the grip-plate when it shifts by the effect of clutching the cable. The cylinders g have a rubber cushion, n, at the back end ior the pistons to strike against and prevent shocks in casethe inertia of the load is greater than the air-cushions will overcome.

Between the stock b and the cylinders we have arranged coiled springs o around the piston-rods and in sockets p, attached to the stock, to bear against said stock and cylinderheads, to return the grip-plate to the center position, when the grip is disconnected and the cocksj are opened, and to assist, also, in overcoming the inertia of the car. The gripplate will partly recover its central position by the pneumatic springs after the car starts, but not entirely so as long as the car is being pushed by the cable, so that when the grip is disconnected and the air-spring destroyed by the opening of the cocks, the coiled springs take effect on the grip-plate and restore it to the center. In this example we have represented double-acting pneumatic springsthat is to say, the pistons occupy the middle of the cylinders when in the normal position, which enables the air-springs to work alike whichever way the car may run, but in a car that is to turn about and run only one way, the pistons will stand one at the back. and the other at the inner end of the cylinders. The operators foot-board q is attached to the plate a, to shift with it.

To dispense with the friction device for connecting the working-rods 7f3 of the cylindercocks, we may, if preferred, locate the cylinder-cocks on the pistons h, as represented in Fig. 7, which move in unison with the gripplate a, and enable the rods to be connected positively with the lever. Said rods k will in this case extend into the cylinders. through the cylinder-heads.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. 1n a cable-grip device for cars, the gripplate arranged to shift along the car when.

IOO

gripped to the cable, and provided at each end with piston rods and cylinders, and springs arranged on said pistons between the gripplates and cylindenlieads, substantially as set fort 2. The combination of the pneumatic cylinders g, pistons h, piston-rods, cylinder-cocks j, and means for operating and closing said cylinder-cocks,with the grip-plate a, arranged to slide along the cary when gripped to the cable, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the pneumatic cylinders g, pistons h, and the coiled springs o, With the grip-plate a. arranged to shift along the car when gripped to the cable, said pneumatic cylinders having suitable cocks, and means for Working the same, substantially as described.

4. The pneumatic cylinders' g, pistons h, rods i, cylinder-cocksj, and the rods k, in combination with the grip-plate a and grip-lever Z,

arranged to shift along the car whenl the cable is gripped, the said rods k being connected to 5. The combination, in a cable-grip device.

arranged to shift along the car when the cable is gripped, of the pneumatic cylinders g, pistons h, and the rubber cushions n, said pistons h being connected to the grip -plate, substantially as described.

6. The grip-platea, attached to the sliding stock b, connected to the piston-rods z' of the pneumatic springs, said grip plate having sockets p, connected With the coiled springs o, bearing against the pneumatic cylinders, substantially as described.

HENRY DODS. FRANK HINDES. Vitnesses: C. E. NUTTALL,

JOHN WV. MERRICK. 

